The Chicago Bears’ 53-man roster is coming into form as the Bears have already started working on their cuts. The Bears have cut roughly half the players they need to at this point, but there are still some difficult decisions that need to be made before the Bears get down to 53 players.
It’s also important to note that while we discuss who will be the Bears 53-man roster when it’s announced on Tuesday, it’s still a situation where a couple of the names that are announced will still probably be released
and find their way to the practice squad (unless they are poached) assuming the Bears pick up a couple of veterans that become available.
Offense
On the offensive side of the ball, let’s look at the bottom of this roster. I think Caleb Williams, Tyson Bagent, and Case Keenum are set. The tight end room also looks set with Cole Kmet, Colston Loveland, and Durham Smythe. Five wide receivers are locks with DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, Luther Burden, Olamide Zaccheaus, and Devin Duvernay. In the running back room right now, I think we can only call D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai locks for the 53. Finally, on the offensive line, we know the starting five is set (with Braxton Jones). I also think Theo Benedet, Ozzy Trapilo, Luke Newman, and Ryan Bates are locks.
That leaves us with 22 locks with three spots up for grabs. Let’s look at the last spots on offense.
Running Back: There will be at least one, probably two more running backs on the roster. Roschon Johnson and Travis Homer are the easy answers here, but both of them have been hurt. Could they end up on the IR? Could they be released? It depends on what their health situations are right now.
Ian Wheeler and Royce Freeman were released today. That leaves Brittain Brown as the only remaining running back. Based on health, I’m going to predict that Brown makes the 53, but only as a placeholder until the Bears can sign a veteran off waivers. I think Travis Homer makes the 53, and Roschon Johnson is either placed on the IR or released.
That leaves us one more spot on offense. If that’s the case, it’s between Jahdae Walker and Kiran Amegadjie. The Bears may make that decision based on who they think they can more safely get to the practice squad. If they do that, that’s probably releasing Walker and keeping Amegadjie. If it’s simply based on performance, it’s going to be Walker over Amegadjie.
Amegadjie has been clearly with the 3s since his return from injury. This may come down to Dan Roushar, and if he thinks there’s enough potential there. Amedgadjie looks pretty solid against the 3s, but we know he gets questionable against 2s and abused against 1s. If Roushar thinks there’s potential and wants to work with him, they may keep Kiran on the 53 this year and give him one more training camp to prove he can be a legitimate NFL offensive lineman.
There’s also this tweet from Walker that may be worth noting.
Cryptic tweets are always dangerous to try to decipher, but let’s do it anyway! The hashtag #theyaintinviteme may refer to the NFL Combine. Walker was not invited to the combine. 329 players were invited, which means the NFL didn’t consider him to be one of the top 330 prospects coming out of college football.
Walker tweets, “Nothing promised, everything earned.” You could make the argument that Walker is saying, despite not being invited to the combine, the Bears promised him nothing, but he worked his butt off and made the 53-man roster.
Based on the tweet and preseason performances, I think the final spot on the 53 goes to Walker. Amegadjie will be released, and perhaps, if he isn’t claimed, the Bears will try to put him on the practice squad.
Defense
The defensive side of the ball is a little more straightforward. I think the secondary is set, personally. I think it’ll be Jaquan Brisker, Kevin Byard, Jonathan Owens, and Elijah Hicks at safety. I think with Terell Smith on IR and Zah Frazier on the non-injury list, it’s hard to imagine that they don’t keep 6 CBs with those 6 being Jaylon Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson, Kyler Gordon, Josh Blackwell, Nick McCloud, and Nashon Wright.
It’s hard to imagine that linebackers aren’t set with TJ Edwards, Tremaine Edmunds, Noah Sewell, Ruben Hyppolite, and Amen Ogbongbemiga.
That puts them at 15, with 10 defensive linemen left to place on the 53.
The locks on the line are Montez Sweat, Dayo Odeyingbo, Grady Jarrett, Gervon Dexter, Andrew Billings, and Shemar Turner.
There’s been some talk about perhaps Andrew Billings not being on the 53, but that’s not something I’m considering right now. I think his ability to eat blockers in the run game is too important.
Austin Booker is obviously also a lock, but depending on his injury, he could end up on IR. We will have to see what the assessment is there.
Three other interior DL are battling for a spot. Chris Williams, Johnathan Ford, and Zacch Pickens. I think Chris Williams is basically a lock at this point. I think Ford ends up on the practice squad and Pickens is released.
Defensive end is where it gets interesting. If Booker stays on the 53, that leaves two spots. If Booker is on IR, they still have three spots to fill. The players battling here are Tanoh Kpassagnon, Dominique Robinson, and Daniel Hardy.
If Booker goes to IR, the defensive end room is set. If Booker remains on the active roster. One of those players will have to be cut. I think Kpassagnon stays on the 53 due to his familiarity with Dennis Allen. The last spot is between Robinson and Hardy. Personally, I’m done with Robinson. I would keep Hardy and call it a day. However, I’m not making decisions. I think the Bears keep Robinson and try to move Hardy to the practice squad.
While the DE room is fairly straightforward on the initial 53 and almost obvious if Booker is on the IR, that’s another spot where it seems the Bears will certainly look for a veteran to pad the depth in that room.
